DO YOU BELONG TO ENTERTAINMENT CENTRAL?

I don’t want anybody to get me wrong with this blog but I do want people to think and think very clearly about what we do and to what we belong. I came to Christ in April of 1981. It was a great time in my life as I met the Maker of my soul and Ruler of the universe. The guy who led me to Christ belonged to a small Baptist church in the Pleasant Grove section of Dallas. At that time Pleasant Grove was just getting into the stages of being very rough and violent. The church property was well taken care of by the members and the staff worked hard to tend to the needs of the membership. This church belonged to the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas (BMAT). It was a conservative church which preached the undeniable gospel and attempted to disciple those who were lead to Christ. I was there for nine years and it was hard to see churches across town (North Dallas, Rockwall, Rowlett, Seagoville, ect.) grow into giant churches with thousands and thousands of members, great music, and cutting edge technology. I often envied them, as did many who worked in similar situations. If we had 200 on a given Sunday morning we thought we were in Heaven. I moved my membership from that small church to another small BMAT church in Mesquite only a few blocks from where I lived in 1989. It was a difficult move, but one I felt needed to be made. I was there from 1989 to 1993 and returned in 1994 and stayed until 2000. I continued to feel the need to grow big so that we could do more. The pastor of this church showed the same wisdom and restraint of my first pastor, encouraging me to look at the traps many larger churches fall into. I also noted that small churches can fall into traps as well.

I went through a divorce in 2000 and after about a year of staying in that small BMAT church in Mesquite I decided I needed to branch out. Just down the road was a larger Southern Baptist Church named Sunnyvale First Baptist. I was there from 2002 until 2006. I met my wife there and we were married there. However, about six months after we were married I let Mary know that I felt something was wrong regarding the staff. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was not right. Even being good friends with Wayne Wible, the Membership Pastor (now the Pastor of Ferguson Road Baptist), didn’t let on that things were not well among the staff. Regardless I could tell things weren’t right. In 2006 after Wayne Wible became the Pastor of Ferguson Road Baptist he called us to come help. My original title was Singles Minister, which became Young Adult Pastor, then Minister of Adult Education and finally morphed into the Minister of Education. The last title has held. Now I’m back to a small, urban church which struggles to survive every day.

During this time I have gone from being a member of a small urban church, to a small, but thriving suburban church, to a large church, back to a small urban church. So what is my beef and why did I tell this story? Because through the years I have watched young, enthusiastic people flock to larger, seemingly fit churches, while passing by smaller and often unattended churches. Inside, something says things are not right. So through the years (way back in 1989) I began to look at and study large churches. What you are going to read is my thoughts about the mega church empire which I call “Entertainment Central”.

First, allow me to say there is nothing wrong with large churches. Second, there is often nothing wrong with people who attend large churches. Third, there is often nothing wrong with what large churches do and how they do it. But, my problem stems from the idea that only large churches can be effective and that excitement in a service has to be generated rather than allowing it to be a true work of the Holy Spirit.

This last Sunday while Mary and I were in Houston we attended one of the five campuses of Second Baptist Church. This has been pretty much the normal for Mary and I when we visit her parents. However, about three years ago I noticed a shift, one which really turned me off. Rather than having the campus Pastor preach they started showing satellite feed from the Main campus of the Senior Pastor preaching, Dr. Ed Young. Now I have always enjoyed Dr. Young and had the chance to briefly meet him while working an evangelism conference in Kansas City back in the 1980’s. The first time this happened I thought maybe it was a special occasion. The second time it happened I thought maybe it had something to do with the series he was preaching through. But the third time I realized (as I had feared) this was the norm. Then I heard that Lake Point Church in Rockwall had taken Baptist out of their name (but not their doctrine) and started doing the same thing with their satellite campuses. And so did Fellowship Church in Grapevine and then I heard of others. This began to disturb me. I know what the claim will be, “Pastoral authority. It is up to the pastor to make sure that the proper message gets out to the congregation.” In the 1980’s I took evangelism under Dr. R. Alan Streett at the Criswell College and he had a saying I would like to quote from, “Hang it on your beak.” The pastoral authority argument is a fraud. It has nothing to do with what is going on.

So what happened last Sunday? Well Mary and I arrived about ten minutes before service began. We found a seat and noticed in the bulletin that Dr. Ed Young was going to be there at that campus speaking. The rostrum was set up in the middle of the stage; there was a live orchestra (no piped in music) and a worship team. I was really hoping that they were changing their philosophy, but was quickly disappointed as he announced that we were going to watch a video about the youth retreat. It gave some cool testimonies from some of the youth, it showed Dr. Young speaking to their youth and the positive way they responded to this 70 something year old. But it went on for forty-five minutes, then Dr. Young got up to speak for another twenty. He gave a very cool invitation and we watched as about a hundred people walk the isle as he himself greeted them. However, I still felt disconnected. Even though he expounded the scriptures on the video, he didn’t in life. I went away with a bitter/sweet taste in my mouth.

Here is what I have recognized about mega churches. First, they depend on technology. Don’t get me wrong, every church in America does, even if they say they don’t. If you meet in a building, then the building itself is the technology you are depending on. However, large, mega, and emergent churches often seem to go to the extreme. They would rather “e-mail” the sermon to the next campus via satellite than have someone live make a connection with the people. Technology which is used wisely can be effective; technology which is used excessively is dishonest. It’s all about building hype rather than building the Kingdom of God. By the way this does not let smaller struggling churches off the hook. We often have a tendency to rely on the piano and song book while wallowing in our own self pity. Second, they throw money at it. Funny, isn’t that what we accuse the liberals of doing, yet we do it and call it ministry. Humm, do you see a problem with this picture? Always needing to have bigger and better, but often forgetting that the small things are what counts eternally. It’s about drawing the crowd in, with the excuse of sharing the gospel. If reality were to be known it’s more about pri…wait I’m shutting my mouth, I’m just not going there. Again, small churches should not use the argument of lack of funds to keep from taking care of what God has given them. Third, it’s about the party. There is nothing wrong about having fun, nor having fun in church, but when it is about “the show” and not the scriptures, I think that we have drawn a line in the sand which is not good. There is nothing wrong with illustrations, Scripture is full of personal illustrations; the potter in Jeremiah, the farmer in Matthew, the widow in Luke, but those were illustrations at the moment. There was nothing outside of the righteous, sovereign hand of God which did it. Last, it all seems so planned down to the detail. The music and the way it moves, the message and the way it’s timed, the invitation and the way it’s couched. Again, don’t get me wrong, the services should be planned. Just look at the Old Testament and how God told the people their services were to be presented. Also, we should expect the very best from those who lead in worship and the preaching of the Word. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:16-17, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” In other words our very best should be done in all that we do for His sake and His glory. However, too many times we use this as an excuse. One of the best ways for any of us in ministry (large/mega church or small church) to know if we are in true reliance upon God is to let the technology fail. How we respond to the situation, both publically and personally, will show who is really receiving the glory.
My real beef with many of the large/mega churches is simply with the whole satellite church thing. I know that this has been a slow on growing thing but it really disturbs me and I often feel that it may even be unbiblical. How? Note the fact that I struggle with it and do not out and out call it wrong, but let’s look at the issue. First, why spend the money, technology and effort for satellite hook ups and extra staff to duplicate something else, somewhere else? Why not develop a mission church instead? Why not duplicate the effect through outreach and mission work locally? If people are joining because of the name of the church then they are joining for the wrong reasons. Spin the satellite campuses off into missions and allow new fresh ministries to develop while reaching the community around it. Second, satellite campuses cause the church to become regional rather than local. In some ways I’ve already hit on this, but the more localized a church is the more in tune it can become with the needs around it and with the needs around the world. Third, this whole streaming the message in thing really urks me to no end. If I want to watch television I’ll stay at home. If you televise the service into another building then people loose connection with the message. Why not use a preaching staff and if you are going to keep your satellite campuses, make a monthly visit to each campus and preach what God has laid on your heart. Now I know the argument for this, and it doesn’t work. The argument is that people make connection through Sunday Morning Bible Study Groups. This argument is a joke! I can start a weekly Bible Study at home and then have people meet in my home on Sunday morning and watch TV and still have as legitimate a worship service as most mega/multi campus churches have. My point is; one, human responsibility is lost in this; two, human contact with the message is lost with this; third, it is easily manipulated through the technology; and fourth, name and prestige becomes more important than Jesus.

I believe all churches play a part in Kingdom building. Regardless if we are a small/struggling church or a large/mega church, we are still called to depend on God. Just as I feel that established thinking in smaller churches needs to be challenged, I also believe that large/mega/emergent churches need to have their philosophy challenged as well. God calls us to pray and think things through. We should do our very best for His glory alone and leave the results up to Him, not up to our manipulations and technology.

Your comments are welcomed!

God Bless You,

Steven Swaim

(All passages are quoted from the New American Standard Bible)